


Dark is the Night, but You're Safe with Me

by deanwinchesterissaved



Series: Hey world, it's me ya believer [2]
Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Can be read as a stand alone, Demon Shane Madej, Ryan is braver than he thinks he is, Sallie house ep, Shane is a good demon, sometimes he just needs someone to tell him that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-17 23:04:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21851143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deanwinchesterissaved/pseuds/deanwinchesterissaved
Summary: They shoot a three-parter episode to get the fans familiar with Shane.The flashlight turns on a second time against Shane's smile, and the dots connect in Ryan's head.orWhat if they stay the whole night.
Series: Hey world, it's me ya believer [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1574269
Comments: 9
Kudos: 275





	Dark is the Night, but You're Safe with Me

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on updating my other fics I swear, they're just taking a while along with the 2 other ficlets I was writing too. People seem to like 'Light on the Hill' so here's a second part. I hope you like it :)

"I don't think they have the power to turn it back on again frankly. I really think they don't"

He doesn't think he's breathing at the moment, that's how tense he is. His nails are digging into the rubber gip of the camera extension and the door handle is a sharp pressure in his side as he leans back as far as he could, away from the stupid kitchen counter and the stupid flashlight. 

"Ryan?" Shane's grinning, tone almost chiding as he knelt down to get a closer look. How the fuck was he not freaked out by this?

The flashlight turns on.

Ryan screams, of course he does, it’s a sensical response. Shane's laugh rings out at the same time, face illuminated on one side by the glow of the maglight, eyes curving into crescent moons. 

Something in the back of Ryan's mind clicks. He _ knows _ those eyes. They belonged to the warmth on a cold streetside when he thought he was losing his mind, years ago. But this is Shane, has always been. And a demon just turned the flashlight on a second time. 

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Ryan half yells as he crosses the short distance and sticks his face up against the innocent-looking flashlight, looking it over under the glare of his own. There has to be a tampered switch, remote control or  _ something _ , anything that wouldn’t suggest a demon is here. Even though the whole point of their three-part trip was to find some evidence of the supernatural, he's not sure he wants it now. 

"Keep in mind that we have to spend the night here." Shane says with a smirk, and yes, that is definitely his friend. No one knows how to get under his skin that well.

As if it wasn't already enough, a metallic scraping noise behind him has Ryan whipping his head around, just in time to see the light cut a bright arc across the dark counter. 

And yes, maybe what Shane says about the thing being cylindrical is a good point, but it doesn't necessarily mean Ryan's mind hasn't already conjured about a thousand ways they could die if the demon can move a flashlight.

"It shouldn't be rolling back and forth like that." Eric says, and it really doesn't help. 

Ryan's starting to regret bringing along the paranormal investigator. He had thought it would help since they didn't know much about ghost hunting yet, but having even him get unsettled is just adding to Ryan's panic. 

"You should have never talked to it dude, what is wrong with you?!" The words come out harsher than he means, and Shane tilts his head a little. The act almost looks predatory. 

  
  
  


When Shane lays down on the black splotch on the basement floor, Ryan is beginning to see a trend in how these sorts of supernatural investigations are going to go. 

"Rock and roll buckaroo!" The dude is enjoying this way too much for his own good.

Ryan utters some mild protests that increase in intensity when Shane starts offering him up to the demon as well. The spot where the pentagram was supposed to be didn't really bother him, it just looked like someone poured some questionable stuff on the concrete, or possibly even lit a few small bonfires. But he didn't like how he felt in this house, and being in the basement is just adding an extra chunk of distance between him and the front door. 

"The light's on Ryan! Look at the light!" Shane exclaims happily, finger pointing. On his part, Ryan's brain is struggling to process the phenomenon without damaging his sanity. 

Ryan bolts out of his seat cause there was no way he was staying near a spot of demon activity. The simultaneous movement of all three of their flashlight-holding hands plunges the room into a mess of light and stretched out silhouettes. Combined with the stress of the whole situation, Ryan was starting to lose confidence in his eyes.

Because for a split second as Shane fixes his gaze on the chair, it was like a piece of darkness extended from the edges of the room to engulf his face in shadow, his eyes looked almost entirely black. 

"Demon, we got 'em." Shane's looking at him with that mischievous curve to his mouth, and Ryan leans against a wall to slow his heartbeat. These investigations are going to give him a heart attack some day, what was he thinking when he signed up for this?

_ It makes you feel alive _ , his brain supplies, with a voice that sounds way too much like Shane. 

  
  
  


Ryan sets up an extra camera on his side of the living room, cause if he was going to get demon-murdered for the internet, there'd better be footage of it that the crew can use to tell everyone. 

He lies in his sleeping bag next to Shane, and gets struck with intermittent irritation when he hears his friend's breathing smooth into light snores between sentences. Everything’s so quiet, and the lack of sensory input is getting to him. Living in LA means there is always someone making noise somewhere, music, traffic, the occasional scream or two. 

Here in the suburbs in an empty house, there’s nothing. 

They had turned the lights off, and the moon's not having its brightest time through the windows, so most of the room blend together. Ryan’s neck muscles are on the verge of revolt with how he keeps craning his head to look around. Shapes keep popping up in his vision, and the rational part of him-- that had done research on human eyes before the trip-- knows that's a signal from his eyes that he needs to  _ chill _ out for a second, but he just can't bring himself to. 

One of the many cons of having an active brain, he can barely shut it off when he needs to. Maybe that's a good thing, he thinks, at least he'll see them coming.

"You won't." 

"Wha-?" He sputters a little, the sudden interruption to the silence jolting him half out of his sleeping bag, a hand clutching at the little plastic bottle of Holy water. Its just Shane, looking up at him from where he lay, head pillowed on his hands. He couldn't have just said that, that would be like, like mind reading. Had he missed a question from Shane?

He tries again, more coherent this time, “what do you mean?”

"You won't see them coming, not here at least."

Cold sweat is starting to break out across Ryan's face, and the bottle in his hand crinkles. "Okay, what? I swear Shane if you're fucking with me right now I'll, I'll kick your ass tomorrow."

"Very scary, Bergara." Shane shoots back, and Ryan groans, gently easing back down to the ground. His whole body is going to be sore tomorrow.

"Shut up Shane." 

He's pretty sure he's said that more times on this shoot than he has the past two years of knowing the man. It would seem that ghost hunting exacerbates Shane's sarcasm and goof level. The fans are probably going to love it, which means they've gotta up the level even more. He stifles another groan and rubs his face with a hand. 

"Nothing is going to happen to you."

"How can you be sure?" Ryan's never heard his voice that small, he'd be embarrassed if he wasn't so scared.

"You know how." Shane looks at him for a long time with the same smiling eyes and the smallest tilt to his mouth. It's too much, the quiet and the fear and the listing familiarity of it all. Ryan shivers a little, and it has nothing to do with the chill. 

"It's you." he breathes, and the memory of warmth and light dig its way into the forefront of Ryan's mind.

"It is," Shane's still smiling softly. Ryan searches his eyes, bracing for a change, but they stay their normal brown. "It's certainly a risky situation here, but you don't have to worry, you're safe with me."

There is a part of Ryan's brain that starts to freak out about the confirmation of the danger here, but the majority's still reeling at this realization, and the strange not-changes they made to the situation. A glance at the red dot on the camera confirmed it's existence. Good. He's going to need footage of this to convince himself it wasn't just a dream.

"Hey, come 'ere." Shane holds out an arm so Ryan can scoot closer, tentatively laying his head on his shoulder. "I'm proud of you Ryan, you knew all this existed and yet you're still willing to explore, the bravery of the heart doesn't falter." 

"And what about you? I mean, you can see it right?" He feels calm settle over him like a blanket, Shane's hand on his shoulder a gentle pressure grounding him to reality.

"Oh yes, and let me tell you, it is one ugly fucker," Shane chuckles under his breath, and Ryan could feel it rumble through his side, "I meant every word I said down there, we're a package deal. If Sallie wants a piece of you, it's gotta get through me first, and the demon's got nothing on me, my friend."

"You're insufferable," Ryan grumbles into Shane's shoulder, but he finally manages to close his eyes against the dark room. The fear is still there, but it's dulled, pushed back by whatever powers Shane wielded. He'll deal with all of this tomorrow. He'll talk to Shane, figure out what this meant, and come up with a plan. 

The darkness doesn't seem as threatening now. 

  
  
  


They sleep there for the full night, a successful end to their three-part episode.

Coffee and some serious editing magic later, their watch count rockets through the roof, a rapidly increasing fanbase clamoring for more of the nuanced pairing of the skeptic and the believer. 

Ryan finds himself smiling at Shane at the next desk, it'll be a tough fight not to tell the world, now that he has a piece of evidence right at his side, but he can live with that. 

Better the devil you know after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave me a comment and tell me what you think! I hoped this lived up to the kudos everyone gave me for the first part of the series.  
> Thanks for reading, if you liked it and have a Tumblr, head over and reblog the [original post](https://deathfrisbeeinthetardis.tumblr.com/post/189743614812/dark-is-the-night-but-youre-safe-with-me) <3


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